Jeremiah Dixon (July 27, 1733 – January 22, 1779) was an English surveyor and astronomer who is perhaps best known for his work with Charles Mason, from 1763 to 1767, in determining what was later called the Mason-Dixon line. July 27 is the 208th day (209th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 157 days remaining. ... Events February 12 - British colonist James Oglethorpe founds Savannah, Georgia. ... January 22 is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1779 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: England Travel guide to England from Wikitravel English language English law English (people) List of monarchs of England – Kings of England family tree List of English people Angeln (region in northern Germany, presumably the origin of the Angles for whom England is named) UK... Astrology: the study of the positions of the celestial objects relative to the Earth and how these positions affect happenings on the lives of cultures, nations and the natural environment. ... Charles Mason (1730–1787) was an English astronomer. ... 1763 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1767 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Map of the states and territories claimed by the Confederate States of America The Mason–Dixon Line (or Mason and Dixons Line) is a line of demarcation between states in the United States. ...

Dixon was born in Cockfield, near Bishop Auckland, County Durham in northern England in 1733, the fifth of seven children, to George Dixon and Mary Hunter. His father was a wealthy Quaker coal mine owner. Dixon became interested in astronomy and mathematics during his education at Barnard Castle; early in life he made acquaintances with mathematician William Emerson, and astronomers John Bird and Thomas Wright. Cockfield is a village in County Durham, in England. ... Location within the British Isles Bishop Auckland is a market town in County Durham in North East England. ... County Durham is a county in north-east England. ... The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, or Friends, is a religious community founded in England in the 17th century. ... Wyoming coal mine Coal mining is the extraction of coal from the Earth for use during combustion. ... Mathematics is often defined as the study of topics such as quantity, structure, space, and change. ... Categories: Stub | Towns in County Durham | Castles in England | English Heritage ... William Emerson (14 May 1701 - 20 May 1782), English mathematician, was born at Hurworth, near Darlington, where his father, Dudley Emerson, also a mathematician, taught a school. ... John Bird (1709 – 1776) was an astronomer and scientific instrument maker who made important developments in astronomical instrument design. ... See also : Thomas Wright (disambiguation) Categories: Stub | 1711 births | 1786 deaths | British astronomers ...

Jeremiah Dixon served as assistant to Charles Mason in 1761 when the Royal Society selected Mason to observe the transit of Venus from Sumatra. However, their passage to Sumatra was delayed, and they landed instead at the Cape of Good Hope where the transit was observed on June 6, 1761. Dixon returned to the Cape once again with Nevil Maskelyne to work on experiments with gravity. 1761 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The premises of the Royal Society in London. ... The 2004 transit of Venus A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and the Earth, obscuring a small portion of the Suns disc. ... Sumatra (also spelled Sumatara and Sumatera) is the sixth largest island of the world (approximately 470,000 km²) and is the largest part of Indonesia. ... 1888 Map of the Cape of Good Hope The expression Cape of Good Hope is used in two senses (1) sensu stricto it is a wild and rocky headland in South Africa, on the southern fringe of the Cape Peninsula, some thirty kilometres south of Cape Town (2) sensu lato... Deimos transits the Sun, as seen by Mars Rover Opportunity on March 4, 2004 The word transit has two meanings in astronomy: A transit is the astronomical event that occurs when one celestial body appears to move across the face of another celestial body, as seen by an observer at... June 6 is the 157th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (158th in leap years), with 208 days remaining. ... Nevil Maskelyne. ... Gravity is the force of attraction between massive particles. ...

Dixon and Mason signed an agreement in 1763 with the proprietors of Pennsylvania and Maryland, Thomas Penn and Frederick Calvert, seventh Baron Baltimore, to assist with resolving a boundary dispute between the two provinces. They arrived in Philadelphia in November 1763 and began work towards the end of the year. The survey was not complete until late 1766, following which they stayed on to measure a degree of Earth's meridian on the Delmarva Peninsula in Maryland, on behalf of the Royal Society. They also made a number of gravity measurements with the same instrument that Dixon had used with Maskelyne in 1761. Before returning to England in 1768, they were both admitted to the American Society for Promoting Useful Knowledge, in Philadelphia. 1763 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... State nickname: The Keystone State Official languages None Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Governor Ed Rendell (D) Senators Arlen Specter (R) Rick Santorum (R) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 33rd 119,283 km² 2. ... State nickname: Old Line State; Free State Official languages None Capital Annapolis Largest city Baltimore Governor Robert L. Ehrlich (R) Senators Paul Sarbanes (D) Barbara Mikulski (D) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 42nd 32,160 km² 21 Population  - Total (2000)  - Density Ranked 19th 5,296,486 165/km² Admission into Union... Baron Baltimore is a defunct title in the Peerage of Ireland. ... Independence Hall, as it appears today. ... For other uses, see November (disambiguation). ... 1766 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... A degree (in full, a degree of arc, arc degree, or arcdegree), usually symbolized °, is a measurement of plane angle, representing 1／360 of a full rotation. ... Earth, also known as Terra, and (mostly in the 19th century) Tellus, is the third-closest planet to the Sun. ... On the earth, a meridian is a north-south line between the North Pole and the South Pole. ... Delmarva Peninsula map The Delmarva Peninsula is a large peninsula on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by portions of three U.S. states: Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. ... 1768 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

Dixon sailed to Norway in 1769 with William Bayly to observe another transit of Venus. The two split up, with Dixon at Hammerfest Island and Bayly at North Cape, in order to minimize the possibility of inclement weather obstructing their measurements. Following their return to England in July, Dixon resumed his work as a surveyor in Durham. He died unmarried in Cockfield, January 22, 1779. 1769 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... North Cape is the name of several capes: North Cape is a cape in Prince Edward Island, Canada North Cape is a cape in northern New Zealand North Cape is a cape in northern Norway, also known as Nordkapp The North Cape was a barge which ran aground in Rhode... Cockfield is a village in County Durham, in England. ...

It is possible that Dixon's name was the origin for the nickname Dixie used in reference to the U.S. Southern States. DIXIES LAND, 1904 postcard Dixie is a nickname for the Southern United States. ... The U.S. Southern states or the South, also known colloquially as Dixie, constitute a distinctive region covering a large portion of the United States, with its own unique heritage, historical perspective, customs, musical styles, and cuisine. ...

Jeremiah Dixon is one of the two titular characters of Thomas Pynchon's 1997 novel Mason & Dixon. The song Sailing to Philadelphia from Mark Knopfler's album of the same name, also has strong references to Dixon. The muted post horn was invented by Thomas Pynchon as a symbol for the underground postal service W.A.S.T.E. in the novel The Crying of Lot 49 and can be taken to symbolize his characteristic sense of fictional paranoia. ... Mason & Dixon, a post-modern novel by Thomas Pynchon first published in 1997, centers on the collaboration of the historical Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in their astronomical and surveying exploits in Cape Colony, Saint Helena, Great Britain and along the Mason-Dixon line in British North America on the... Sailing to Philadelphia is an album by Mark Knopfler (of Dire Straits) released in 2000 on Mercury Records. ... Mark Knopfler with Dire Straits performing live Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE (born August 12, 1949 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a British guitarist, singer, and songwriter. ...

It should also be mentioned that his great great great etc grandson, Mark Dixon, is lead singer in his own band, Johnny and the raging Dixons, but the band ceased to be in 1999 when Mark Dixon went solo.

External links

• Biography of Jeremiah Dixon from the Oxford National Dictionary of Biography